The government’s proposal to hold even more people in detention in the UK is a disappointing step away from a fairer and more humane immigration system.
Especially following recent events, it is vital that government policy and language recognises the dignity and humanity of migrants.
Immigration detention centres are a hidden space where people are locked in small cells for up to 12 hours a day and frequently denied legal support and appropriate medical care.
The use of immigration detention is inherently damaging to people’s mental health, especially because people are detained without a fixed time limit.
A recent inspection of one detention centre by HM Inspectorate of Prisons found numerous suicide attempts, with almost half of the people surveyed reporting thoughts of suicide. Statistics published this week reveal that incidents of self-harm in detention centres have increased 67% in one year.
Over the past 20 years, there has been a series of failures, scandals and sickening abuse in immigration detention centres.
Last year, the official inquiry into abuse of people held at the Brook House detention centre found a toxic culture and serious incidents of mistreatment, including verbal abuse by staff, moving people through the facility while they were naked, and the use of dangerous restraint techniques. Despite the inquiry, other immigration detention centres continue to be plagued by problems that are likely to be repeated in any new facilities.
Immigration detention is also a fundamentally inefficient way to resolve people’s immigration cases.
From 2023 to 2024, 60% of people leaving detention were released on immigration bail or granted permission to remain in the UK. This raises serious concerns about why these people were detained in the first place. Last year, 66% of people leaving detention had been held for more than 28 days, even though detention should be used for the shortest time possible and only when absolutely necessary. At Detention Action, we have recorded cases of people being detained for more than two years without being removed or released.
Despite deteriorating conditions, the overall cost for the Home Office of operating the detention system has increased by 25% since 2022. This does not include the cost of compensation paid out by the Home Office to people they have unlawfully detained, which in 2023-24 totalled £11.8 million across 838 cases. Given the immense cost of immigration detention to both the welfare of people detained and the public purse, we urge the government to reconsider their proposal.
By introducing a 28 day time limit on immigration detention and resolving more immigration cases in the community, the government can avoid expanding the abuses and injustices that have become endemic to immigration detention in the UK.